God recognizes only one son of Abraham- the one from the Covenant of Grace

Believers, Abraham had two sons at the time that God told him to go and offer Isaac as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah- Ishmael by Hagar and Isaac by Sarah. But consider what God told him in Genesis 22:1-2:

"Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Notice "...your only son Isaac..."

What does this mean? Ishmael was still alive. There is an account of he and Isaac burying their father Abraham in Genesis 25:9- "His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre,.." But God referred to Isaac as "...your only son Isaac..." when He spoke to Abraham. What's up with that?

Believer, God does not recognise Ishmael as a son! Only a son can inherit the blessing of Abraham. To God, Isaac was the only son that Abraham had. But how? And what does this even have to do with all, including churchgoers, who call the God of Abraham their God today?

Believer, Ishmael and Isaac are pictures of the products of the two covenants of Law and Grace respectively. Hagar represents the Law while Sarah is a picture of Grace. Paul explains this in Galatians 4:

“21 Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. 23 But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. 24 This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. 25 Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. 27 For it is written,

“Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear;

Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor;

For more numerous are the children of the desolate

Than of the one who has a husband.”

28 And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. 30 But what does the Scripture say?

“Cast out the bondwoman and her son,

For the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.””

Notice verse 23 “But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. ”

See the NLT: 23 "The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of His promise."

Ishmael was born according to the flesh. Isaac was born according to the Spirit.“According to the flesh” means “by human effort, merely of human origin or empowerment.”But many wrongly interpret "according to the flesh" as sinning. Remember "the arm of flesh will fail"? Walking "according to the flesh" simply means trying to produce results or bear fruit to God by human attempts at keeping the law. Remember God's word says Hagar is a picture of the law that many are trying to obey in order to bear fruit to godliness. No matter how good the fruit Hagar bore was, God did not recognise it.

Abraham (a picture of faith) and Hagar (a picture of the law) still had some strength in them when they bore Ishmael (a work of the law.) Ishmael was a work of human striving, akin to those who are striving to keep the law in order to inherit the blessing of Abraham.

But Isaac was a work of faith. Sarah was barren, even when she was of childbearing age. Abraham's strength to reproduce was gone. No Hagar (Law) or human striving involved here . Isaac was born purely by grace (Sarah) through faith (Abraham.) God planned in advance this good work long before his birth. We see this reflected in the lives of believers in Ephesians 2:

“8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works,so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

See the TPT: “8 For it was only through this wonderful grace that we believed in Him. Nothing we did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the gracious gift from God that brought us to Christ! 9 So no one will ever be able to boast, for salvation is never a reward for good works or human striving. 10 We have become His poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny He has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!”

Those who profess Christ but are trying to keep the law to get right with God (walking according to the flesh) walk in their own plan. These are the ones that say:

"Yes we are saved by Grace (Sarah) but we still have to keep the law (Hagar) so that we can be fruitful to God and inherit the blessing."

Such hear God's powerful declaration upon all who have Christ as their Saviour- "And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God." Romans 5:9 - but are still trying to keep the law in order to be righteous in God's sight, escape His wrath/punishment and earn His freely given blessings.

As it was with Hagar that produced Ishmael in a jiffy, those who are trying to get Abraham's blessing through human effort at keeping the law might see some quick results for their striving, but like Ishmael, such works are not according to God's will nor are they acceptable to Him. Isaiah calls them "a menstrual rag" in Isaiah 64:6- "We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."

There is no inheritance of God's promise for those who think that their efforts at keeping the law counts for something because Romans 4:

“13 Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. 14 If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. 15 For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)”

Many churchgoers who profess Christ have Hagar (the law) as their "mother." Such are still using their ability to obey the law as a yardstick for their acceptance before God. But in Christ, Grace is our "mother." We are accepted in the Beloved, get to inherit Abraham's blessing and GET TO do works of faith, yet not us but Christ in us. Like Sarah, our fruit might take a while to be obvious to the world but it will definitely come. Christ said so in John 15:5. Much fruit too.

Recall Genesis 22:29- "But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also."

As it was between Ishmael and Isaac, those who depend on their non-existent, human effort-driven ability to obey the Ten Commandments and do works of the law are the ones that persecute those who are under Grace today, even describing God's saving grace as license to sin! These are the ones who respond to the message of Christ (Grace) with statements like: "Yes we are saved by Grace (Sarah) but we still have to obey the law (Hagar) in order for us to inherit the blessing of Abraham..." 

Others say things like: "So are you saying that it is okay for a pastor that is fornicating to continue to fornicate because of Grace?" This logic is as warped as someone responding to God's promise to Abraham and Sarah with: "So are you saying that it is okay for Sarah that is barren to continue to be barren because of Grace?" 

Believer, beware of such false doctrine peddlers! Their reasoning is akin to someone telling Sarah: "You will continue to be barren forever with this Grace that you are depending on so go and get a child from Hagar (Law.)"

Without God's saving grace, the pastor that is fornicating will continue to fornicate and commit worse sins forever, just as Sarah would have remained barren for life without God's saving grace. Her human effort at fulfilling God's promise to her through Hagar (Law) just complicated issues: even to this day, Ishmael's descendants give the Jews no peace.

Believer, Grace is a Person and His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him- "God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone." Verse 14 of the same Titus 2 tells us: "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Christ came to save us from our sins, cleanse us and redeem us from every curse. Fornication, barrenness, adultery, sickness, every uncleaness (disease) and all earthly ills are all things that He came to save His people from. Like Sarah, we receive the blessing freely. Involving human effort aka law-keeping aka Hagar to help us bear fruit will only make things worse and the result will still not be acceptable to God.

Believer, believer right. Sarah (Grace) did not need Hagar (Law) to raise Isaac (the church aka you and I in Christ.) Grace is enough. Beware of false preachers who preach: "Yes we are saved by Grace but we still have to keep the law in order for us to inherit the blessing of Abraham..." This is akin to Sarah (Grace) giving her maid Hagar (Law) to Abraham (Faith) to bear fruit for her because the fruit that God promised her (salvation by grace and works of faith) has not yet manifested. God only recognizes the son of Sarah (Grace) whose birth had nothing at all to do with human effort. But this is the fate of those who want to be under law, striving to bear fruit to God by human attempts at keeping the law (children of Hagar)-

"30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, For the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.” 

Believer, let's not be found here, mixing part-Law and part-Grace to form a mixture that is the "neither cold nor hot" that Christ spoke of in Revelation 3. There is nothing like "I will do my best to be godly and Jesus will see that I have tried my best and do the rest" in the story of our salvation in Christ. Isaac was a product of pure Grace (Sarah) and faith (Abraham.) He was not a product of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar (law-keeping, human effort.)

By grace, abide in Grace Himself- our Saviour Jesus Christ: believe and confess with your mouth that in Him, God has made you righteous/godly by His blood and that you have eternal life and that in Him, you will bear "much fruit", even if like Sarah, those sins, sicknesses, shortcomings and all earthly ills that you wish were not a part of you are still a huge fixture in your life. Don't try to help yourself by going to Hagar (law-keeping) in order to bear fruit to God or get Him to bless you. This has dire consequences-

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace." Gal. 5:4.

The law is not of faith. No way to bear fruit to God or do anything that is pleasing to God for that matter when one is trying to keep the law and thus is separated from Christ. God does not recognise Ishmael who is a picture of the product of works of the law. Abide in Christ. Keep on believing Him and you will bear much fruit. Christ said so- John 15:5-

“Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing."

See the TPT: “I am the Sprouting Vine and You’re My branches. As you live in union with Me as your Source, fruitfulness will stream from within you—but when you live separated from Me you are powerless."

Effortlessly and no human effort involved, like Sarah giving birth to Isaac.

Rest in Christ is not inactivity. Rest in Christ is Holy Spirit-directed activity. And with the Spirit of the Lord, it is not by might nor by power. Human striving is not involved. His strength is made perfect in weakness, not in those who deceive themselves by thinking that they still have some strength to obey the law and live above weaknesses, including acts of sin, by their own power, for

9 "Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." 2 Corinthians 12:9.

By grace, let's let go of our puny attempts at keeping the law and doing its works in order to get God to bless. He gives us ALL things FREELY with Christ.

Right believing always produces right living